Heroes of Arragore
by Riki1232
Summary: A story chronicling the exploits of four young adventurers trying to make their way in the realm of Arragore.
1. The Pig's Head

Her sapphire blue cloak billowed in the wind as the rain poured hard down her back. The night sky was filled with clouds so not a single star could be seen. She remembered a legend her father told her about how each star was a portal to another world, and she smiled. She could just hear his voice as he spoke of awesome worlds with castles in the sky and lake of fire, but that was a long time ago. Now she was grown and on her way to her own life. As she walked down the lonely cobblestone street she spied a tavern. She could hear music and dancing and the smell of spiced mead and potato stew filled her nostrils. Her stomach growled. With the storm, she knew once she'd stopped somewhere, she'd be in for the night.

"This cozy little inn didn't seem all that bad," she decided as she approached the door.

"Welcome to the Pig's Head lass," the bartender said in a gruff voice.

She smiled and said "Thank you sir. What have you to drink?"

"We got plenty o' mighty strong drink we have: Dwarfish whiskey, our own brand of ale, the best spiced mead in the land, or perhaps the young lady would like a taste o' the finest wine from ar pointy ear brethren."

"You serve elvish wine here?"

" 'course we serve it. It's excellent! Finest wine I've ever tasted."

"I just never expected a human to-" A drunken gnome stumbled into her aand her hood fell off. She quckly pulled it back on but not before the bartender saw her face.

"Ay lass, so tha's why yer so interested in elves. Yer one o' them."

"Damn! I was hoping I could go unnoticed." She stood up to leave, but Willy stopped her.

"O' corse I noticed! And ya'll be goin' nowhere. I got nothin' against yer kind. Ye be a mighty pretty elf as well. Oh don't go hidin' it now, race don't matter 'round these parts." He exclaimed as she tried to hide in her hood.

"I'm sorry. I just arrived in town and where I come from not everyone gets along with each other so I wasn't sure how my reception-"

"Nah to fret aboot lassie. Here in Trollton no one will be judgin' ya, especially not ol' Willy!"

"Well thank you mister Willy, and I'd like to try some of you Dwarfish whiskey if you don't mind."

"Aye, comin' right up. By the way, I don't think I caught yer name little miss."

"My name is Scarlet Glimfire."

"Well good ta meet ya Scarlet, and here's your whiskey." Willy hands her a shot of an amber liquid. She drank it. It was as smooth as butter and it warm her soaked body. "If ya have somethin' ta change into I can put your wet clothes by the fire. There's a room in the back fer privacy, Margret can show you. Margret!" Willy gestured to a busty barmaid across the room near the band. She pranced over to him and smiled at their newest guest.

"Hello miss, my name is Margret, but everyone but ol' Willy here calls me Maggy," she exclaimed in a squeaky voice. She extended her hand, which Scarlet took. Maggy shook it with such intense vigor that Scarlet almost fell off her stool.

"Hi, Maggy I'm Scarlet."

"Miss Scarlet 'ere would like to make use of our back room to change into somethin' a little more warm."

"O' corse! Right this way miss Scarlet." She gestured toward a door at the far end of the bar. Scarlet followed her to a staircase that lead down into what appeared to be their wine cellar, as it was filled to the roof with barrels and the scent of fermented grapes filled the air. "It's just back 'ere miss. Do you have your clothes?"

"Yes, they're in my backpack." She shrugged up on the strap.

"Yer whole life is in there isn't it?"

"How'd you know?"

"We get lots of yer kind in Trollton. Living out of a bag, travellin' from one place to another, never having a true home. Who would ever choose that life for themselves?"

"Some of us didn't choose it."

"Oh my! I'm so sorry. I thought you were an adventurer! I –"

"It's OK. Most people assume that about me, and I suppose in some respect that's true. All the battles I've been in were purely self-defense." "PlusI don't take anything off the bodies unless I need it," she added in her head. They stopped at a door at the far side of the cellar.

"Well 'ere you are. I'll be right out 'ere to take yer clothes when yer done."

"Thank you."

Scarlett pushed the door open and stepped into a small, dark room. After a few magical gestures and some words from an old, forgotten language and she conjured a flame in her hand. She saw a single candle on a stool and lit it. The room was filled with only three things: the stool, the candle, now shedding a shadowy glow on the small room, and a mirror. Thanks to her keen elvish eyes, the shadowy illumination was perfect for seeing her reflection, and she didn't like what she saw. For an elf, she had extra wide hips and breast that were uncommonly large. She was an elf, she was supposed to be slender and lithe, not busty and curvy. Her grandfather used to joke that she must have some human blood in her and that's why she had that figure. She continued looking at her reflection. One thing she did like was her face. Her almond shaped eyes had a slight slant and her iris was an emerald green. Her soft brown hair cascaded down her face and just past her shoulders. She always wanted it longer, past her waist, but travelling through the wilderness makes that impractical. While she was still looking in the mirror, there was a knock at the door and Maggy's voice came from the other side. "Scarlet are ya ok in thar?"

"I'm fine Maggy, just a minute." She pulled on her leaf green tunic and matching skirt that reached her ankles, this was the traditional dress for a druidic priestess in her homeland. When she stepped out of the room she found Maggy waiting to take her soaked clothes.

"What was takin' ya so long darlin'?"

"Nothing." Scarlet looked behind her at the mirror.

"Ah, admirin' that beautiful elvish physique?"

Scarlet scoffed. "Are you kidding? Look at me. My breasts are huge and my hips are-"

"Stop tha' right now! You're breasts are great, mine are way bigger than yours. Look, I don't know how elves like their women but here you're gorgeous!"

"You really think so?"

"You don't use your eyes do you? When you walked in I thought half the guys upstairs were going to pass out from all the blood that rushed from one head to another." Maggy winked and Scarlet smiled.

"Thanks Maggs."

"Maggs. I like that. Can I call you Scar?"

"Sure. Why not?" They both laughed. "So do you have a room available? I could really use I night in a bed."

"Oh yes! I'll even get Willy ta give a great deal on it." Scarlet smiled. This wasn't a normal evening, but it was a pleasant one, and if the town was half as welcoming as the two people she met tonight, she might just find a home here, at least for a few weeks.


	2. Stranger in the Forest

The hooded figure in the corner of the Pig's Head barely noticed the girl when she first walked in as he was engrossed in his meditation, but when he heard her name that quickly changed.

"So, she is from the fabled clan Glimfire," He thought to himself. "Perhaps this town will yield some worthy recruits after all." He smiled and tried to hide his elation as Maggy brought her to the downstairs room. He moved quickly and quietly to the bar. He sat down at the other end and motioned to the bartender. The bartender joined him there and he spoke in a whisper. "This note, give it that girl who just left when she returns." He scribbled down a message on a piece of scrap paper, gave it to the man, and climbed the stairs to the private room he had purchased for the next few nights.

* * *

The next morning he sat in the forest. The sun warmed his face as he sat meditating, reaching out his senses to his raven which was perched on a window just outside the Pig's Head. He was waiting for the Glimfire girl. She skipped down the stairs her brown her swaying behind her, her smile was brightening the entire tavern. He didn't notice last night how beautiful she was. Perhaps it was all the time he had spent with humans, but her curved body was strangely... sensual. Her soft brown hair cascaded down, framing her beautiful elven features, her emerald eyes were strikingly beautiful. He pushes those thoughts out of his head. He has not the time, nor the energy to waste on such cardinal pleasures as companionship, not to mention the mortal danger she would be in by being close with him.

"Oi lassie, this was left fer ya last night," Willy says as she approaches the bar. Her face darkens, strangely, as she reads the words he wrote for her:

 _I know who you are. Meet me in the forest behind the Pig's Head. I have some things I'd like to discuss with you._

As she turns around, He can see the look of dread in her face and he wonders why she is so affraid of her family legacy. Why would her family's legacy inspire such dread? There was no time to dwell on that now. She was coming and preparations must be made. With one final command to his raven to lead her to him he pulls his mind back into his body. He was sitting in the tallest maple tree he could find. He quickly projects an image of himself onto the forrest floor with the hood of his signature blood red cloak pulled over his head. He learned along time ago that using proxies such as illusions posed the least risk in first meetings like this. It was also common practice among agents like him.

The Mage spies his raven and shrinks into the leaves of the mighty maple and begins concentrating on manipulating his illusionary self. The Glimfire girl approaches and stops in front of him. She doesn't seem to notice the raven flying into the tree.

"So, how much are you gettting?" She says with an air of contempt.

"I'm sorry?" He responds.

"How big has the bounty gotten since I left home?"

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"Don't give me that! Your message said you knew who I was. You're here to arrest me and send me back to Calcut."

"I merely meant I knew of your clan. What's this about arresting you?"

"It's nothing." It was her turn to go on the defensive.

"Very well, your past doesn't matter to me. All I need to know is can you live up to your family name?"

"Of course I can! I was the best druid initiate in my generation!"

"Good, in that case, how would you like to come under my employ? I can pay you handsomely."

"That depends," her hand moves behind her. "Can I see you real face?" Suddenly there's a glint of steel, a hard thunk, and the mage's illusion shatters into hundreds of pieces and blinks out of existence.

"So, you saw through my illusion."

"It wasn't hard to figure out after I saw your raven fly into the tree instead of landing on your shoulder." She starts looking around, presumably for him.

"You certainly are as keen as the rumors suggested of your clan." He quietly steps back against the trunk and tries to hide in the leaves.

The girl moves to retrieve her dagger. The mage summons a veil of mist and teleports himself behind her. "Gotcha!" he proclaims as he grapples her from behind. She gracefully and smoothly slides out of his hold, sweeps her leg and knocks his feet out from under him. While prone the mage blasts a bolt of fire in the eyes of the girl and uses the her momentary blindness to become invisible.

"I know who you are," she says to the air. She does a short chant and heals the burns on her face. "You're the Crimson Outlaw. The bane of all corrupt nobles." She tried to see his footsteps in the grass but he seems to her to be too light of foot. Too late she sees the mage unveiling himself and three rays of light coming toward her. They hit her square in the chest and she gasps.

"You're quite good, and you're also correct. I am the man some call the Crimson Mage." His hands move to his hood. "But you may call me," he pulls down the hood and the Glimfire girl sees an elf, much more elegant than she, with lightning blue eyes and straw colored hair, "Aramil."

"Does this mean you yield?" She stands. "My name is Scarlet by the way."

"I have seen everything I need to see." He holds up his hands in surrender. "Do you accept my offer?"

"I have no use for money, pay for the rest of my stay at the Pig's Head and I'll help you."

"Deal." Aramil smiles and looks at his new ally. "You won't regret this. Now how about a drink?" He gestures back toward the inn. Scarlet nods and they turn back toward where they came. "Oh," Aramil says remembering his raven. He whistles and the raven descends from the maple tree and lands on his shoulder.

* * *

Scarlet and Aramil were sharing a drink at a table near the fireplace.

"The old man ran out screaming and babbling about shadow creatures. By the time the guards got there I was gone, so they had no choice but to assume he had gone off the deep end." Aramil was finishing whispering a story about one of the corrupt nobles he had taken down, complete with illusions to animate the best scenes. Scarlet was amazed by how much he had done since he left his home. Maggy approaches with a second round of drinks, along with a third one, she drops them on the table and she plops down in one of the open chairs.

"These nights are killin' me," she complains taking a drink from her flaggon. "I wish I could join tha both of you on yer adventure, but someone's got ta take care o' ol' Willy over there. Where'd did ya say ya both were goin'?"

"The liar of the green dragon in the forest to the west of here."

"Ya best be pullin' my leg laddie," Maggy said sternly. "I only just met this beauty. I won't have ya be killin' her."

"We'll be fine," Scarlet protests. "Besides, Aramil and I aren't leaving until we find a couple extra hands."

"All the same," Maggy says looking at Aramil. "I'm holdin' you accountable for her safety hear me?"

"Yes madam I understand," Aramil says in his most diplomatic voice.

"Good, well I gotta be gettin' back ta work afore Willy skins me." Maggy gets up and leaves the two to plan the assault on the dragon cave. She hoped she wouldn't lose her friend before she knew her.

"Why are we going after this dragon? I thought you dealt with corrupt nobles." Scarlet was looking at a map of the surrounding area that Aramil had spread out on the table.

"I don't only bring down nobles. I protect the innocent from anyone who tries to exploit or harm them. This dragon has been terrorizing nearby villages and stealing cattle and valuables. Besides, my... the people I work for suspect that the dragon's hoard may hold some arcane secret they can use."

"Speaking of the hoard, dragons are known for their vast riches. I know I told you I didn't need to be paid, nut I-"

"The treasure itself will be divided evenly among all of us."

"Good."

Aramil looked at Scarlet as she studied the map. He was enjoying the time they spent together, and she was indeed pretty. Perhaps, in another life, they could've been friends, perhaps more. That was impossible now, with his line of work: too many men and some women, wanted him dead. This was better. If he had no one to love he had no one to lose. "What kind of secrets are you expecting to find?" Scarlet's voice pulled him out of his contemplating.

"Wha- oh! Well they weren't very explicit, but they said look for something ancient."

"Like a book or a scroll?"

"Possibly, I think they expect to find some secret from before the God War."

"Like what? What could they possibly want from before the God War?"

"Well, before the God War the world was filled with powerful magic items that could enhance or even grant almost any power someone desired and many people knew the ritual to make them. it was that kind of power that supposedly sparked the imbalance that lead to the Creator being summoned and the God War beginning; after which, the Creator destroyed all the magic items that he deemed too powerful for this world. Some say, however, that the knowledge of the rituals are still hidden away, and if anyone has them it would be the dragons, after all they're the most ancient race in the entire realm."

"So your... employers want to get their hands on the secret behind these all powerful items?"

"Possibly, I'm sure they just want to keep these types of things from falling into the wrong hands. If a chromatic dragon, such as a Green Dragon, does have these secrets, they're likely to sell them for more treasure or worse, pass them on to their goddess."

"An ancient, powerful item: the ultimate weapon. I hope you know what you're doing."


End file.
